


Pink Nebula

by RoninReverie



Series: Old Kanera Fanfiction [11]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Corphellion, F/M, Kissing, Lust Potion/Spell, Phindar, Pink Nebula (drink), Rough Kissing, Suggestive Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-26 05:43:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14395524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoninReverie/pseuds/RoninReverie
Summary: The Chase Arc: 3/4Kanan and Hera investigate a rumored sighting of Sabine Wren, but are caught up in an unusual cosmic storm with even more unexpected side effects.





	Pink Nebula

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr: [Link!](http://roninreverie.tumblr.com/post/143875903024/pink-nebula)
> 
>  **IMPORTANT!** This series was written before the second half of season 2 aired on television, so all content is based on my headcanons after season 1 and the "A New Dawn" novel.

The  _Ghost_ was soaring through the atmosphere just outside of the planet, Corphellion, heading towards the spaceport in search of the Mandalorian tagger who was causing all this trouble for the Empire across this Sector. 

The Imperials as well as the Mandalorian truant officer were hunting her down and every time she left her mark, they would get closer and closer to finding her. This girl was good—but nobody was that lucky. 

 _Fortunately_ , the Ghost crew was trying to find her first.  _Unfortunately_ , she wanted nothing to do with them and blew up the  _Phantom_  just to get them off her back _._

Kanan stared out of the viewport at the small moon as it came into view. It was lonely, small, and sad. He couldn’t help but think of himself— _of that Mandalorian girl._  She reminded him so much of himself…arrogant, reckless, independent, and stubborn. While he chose to stay below the radar for most of his life, she was out on her own, looking to make quick money, and doing it in the most noticeable way possible.

 _Where was she running?_ He wondered.  _What was her plan?_

When Kanan needed help the most, he found Janus Kasmir. He let the name slip to Zeb earlier and for an instant he was surprised to have even said it. It had been years since he’d thought about that old Kalleran scoundrel. He was still just a kid back then, still running, still against the galaxy as a traitor for crimes he didn’t know the whole story to—he still didnt’t, not really  _at least_.

If it weren’t for Janus, Kanan wouldn’t exist, and  _who knows where_  Caleb Dume would be right now? Still, Kanan would never forget the help that came from Kasmir, or Okadiah on Gorse, and even this third chance that came from Hera. It was like he told Zeb, if he could somehow repay the favor to this Mandalorian, then he would try his hardest to be like a mentor to her just as these three were to him.

“What in the world?” He heard Hera mumble.

Kanan blinked and snapped out of his daze. He looked over at Hera before returning his gaze to the lone little moon orbiting around Corphellion, only to see that it had become shrouded in an ominous pink shadow, an entire web of electrified energy spreading across the stars like a wave of cerise lightning and tumbling storm clouds.

Kanan stood up from his chair, his eyes wide…“What is that?” He asked in awe.

“I don’t know?” Hera said, her voice was more curious than concerned, but she held a frown on her face regardless as she checked the ship’s monitors. “Nothing’s showing up on radar…”

“Forget the radar!” He pointed. “I can see it coming at us with my own two eyes!”

The pink web of energy blocked the entire star system in a rosy haze. It was traveling quickly, and its diameter spread so wide that it blocked the entire viewport of the ship for as far as the eye could see.

Without warning, Hera veered a hard right, prompting Kanan to quickly grab hold of his chair in order to remain upright. She then jolted left, but it was no use…the pink wave was everywhere and there was nowhere to run.

“Ugh!” She groaned. “We can’t go around it!” Hera grunted and tightened her hold to the controls. “Brace yourself—we’re going to have to go through!”

Kanan sat down quickly and fastened his harness as he held to the dashboard in an unsuccessful attempt to prep for impact.

“What’ll happen?” He asked with a nervous hum.

“Best situation?” She thought bluntly.  “Total Power failure…”

Kanan stared at her and wrinkled his brows.

“That’s the best!?”

She shrugged and broke eye contact as the pink storm crashed towards the small freighter.

“Here it comes!” She glared the storm dead on, letting one strand of sweat escape from her face. “Get ready! Three… Two… One… ”

Kanan couldn’t help but grab her hand just as the ship jolted once and the power flickered off. It was completely black, allowing only the pink moonbeams of light into the ship as the entire thing rocketed violently through the void.

The webs sliced throughout the  _Ghost_ , even phasing through the interior and falling out the other side of the ship. Soundless and unfelt, it also passed through Kanan and Hera as they ducked their heads in the violently rocking cockpit. The air was pink even inside the ship as lightning sparked from the control panels and the freighter jolted to an ungraceful halt as the coarse space terrain slowed their path.

Then it all just stopped.

Kanan blinked, looking to his arms and hand, but nothing had left a feeling in him. He took a breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his face. The anomaly didn’t seem to affect organic lifeforms _, but boy did it ever do a number on the electronics?_  The ship had gone completely black, a total power failure, just as Hera had predicted.

Kanan’s eyes followed his other arm over to the hand that was held tightly in Hera’s. He stared at it dumbly for a moment, trying to figure out if it was him that was holding her hand, or if she was holding his. 

She gave him a warning look and he released her instantly. 

_Guess it was him?_

“What  _was_  that?” He asked with a breath.

“Electromagnetic field? Energy barrier? Radiation belt? Take your pick.” Hera was already up and moving, attempting to fix the ship’s internals. She wasn’t even fazed by the violent shaking of her ship or the fact that right now the  _Ghost_ was pretty much dead weight shifting through an unknown pink fog in space. “It knocked out everything. Luckily our oxygen levels seem to be normal—we can hope it holds, but that’s about all we  _can do_  at this point.”

Kanan tampered with a few things himself and spoke his thoughts allowed… “Nothing looks broken,” he said. “Just dead?”

She toggled a few switched before letting out a sigh and falling back into her seat.

“It will take a while for the  _Ghost’s_ systemsto reboot. So until then—”

“We drift,” he finished. “I get it…”

Hera sulked before the viewport caught her attention and looked out towards space and gasped…  _“My gosh…”_

They each looked outside only to see that the pink web had caused everything around them to become dyed in a blend of violet and red color. The entire galaxy within their line of sight had been affected by the wave, and the lone moon, pink and glowing bright, sent striking moonbeams into the  _Ghost_  so thick that Kanan could see gaps in the rays where his fingers blocked out the light.

 _It would be beautiful, if they weren’t currently drifting through dead space_ … Hera thought.

“Look at what it did to the moon…” Kanan marveled. “Look at what it did to the air!”

Hera observed him as he placed his hands on the dashboard, his eyes watching the stars with such composure. She traced his every detail, his bright teal eyes, tanned skin that revealed the toned muscles beneath his clothes. This would normally be about the time she averted her attention, but all too suddenly, Hera realized that she couldn’t find the strength to look away from him.

 _What was this feeling? It was so strong—so powerful?_ She thought.

He was suddenly so alluring. Just standing there, confused and in awe, trying to figure out what was going on. Kanan was so enthralling that she just couldn’t stand it and had to bite her lip just to keep her thoughts in check.

 _Why am I thinking like this?_ She wondered.

Kanan felt a strange sensation creeping up, as though there were eyes on him. He knew this feeling all too well, but it had been years since he’d actually felt it. But no it was impossible, the only woman anywhere near him was—

_Hera?_

He looked to her in a new-found shock after seeing how she stared back at him. Her eyes were low, fixated, and glowing almost like fire. She had never looked at him this way before. It was almost as though her gaze longed to devour him, and  _frightening as it was_ , Kanan could not deny that she looked absolutely stunning just sitting there watching him. She had her legs crossed, her arms resting against her chest, and the way that she played with her bottom lip—it was enough to make his heart race.

“What are  _you thinking_?” He asked knowingly. His voice came out low, a grin showing to the side of his face as it usually did whenever he was trying to be flirtatious.

 _Why was I being flirtatious?_ He pondered to himself.

Hera stood slowly and walked up to him, tracing her two fingers up his chest until sliding them around his neck and across his chin. The look on her face was deadly. Her mind warned her against this sort of contact, but her body was moving on its own. Before she could process what she should do, Hera felt herself lean forward, her face only inches from his lips that called her to him like a beacon.

“Wait…” He whispered.

Every inch of Kanan was in agony, holding himself back with a strength and resilience that he never knew he had. Something had overcome him, that much was certain. It apparently had taken over Hera too. It  was something strong, unnatural, and powerful—something that was stealing their free will away from them. It was terrifying,  _but it wasn’t completely unwelcomed._

He grabbed her wrists, holding her away with just the same amount of force as she used to get closer to him. She had never come on to him this strongly before—or at all… She had never done anything like this before. He had to fight through this controlling urge—it wasn’t real, this wasn’t really Hera.

Hera barely paused, but hid her head into the crook of his neck, her breath brushing across him, making the chills grow stronger. She let her lips trace the skin, but only slightly because he was trying to say something important. For the life of her, she didn’t understand this feeling she was having, but she could not focus on anything else but him. The thoughts of questioning her actions had faded away completely just moments after, and she stopped second-guessing herself. From that second forward this was simply natural, and he was all that was on her mind.

Kanan swallowed once, hard, and grabbed her head beneath her lekku, letting his jaw touch her heated skin. She smelled like motor grease masked in springtime grass, and he was in love with that smell. He was intoxicated with her to the point that his voice was barely able to make the sounds of words. Something about this was supposed to feel wrong, but right now all he could focus on was how right it was. He wondered now, why his voice was even trying to stop it in the first place?

 _But, no something was wrong here, he could feel it in his bones._ He tried desperately to warn Hera that there was something on the ship causing them to act out, but he couldn’t find the strength to say it out loud. In fact, he was starting to forget that thought all together.

“Wait…” Kanan whispered the warning into her ear, his voice a strained plea for one of them to come to their senses.

That voice vanished, replaced only by a passionate want, though his body allowed one final warning to come out as his words traced her face.

“If you start…” He swallowed. “I won’t be able to stop.”

She held his face in her hands, and spoke upward, letting the smooth green skin of her neck show as the air went in and out.  

“Then don’t…” she said.

Her voice burned like fire.

The words were like the opening of a floodgate, and he shot to her so quickly that they collided with the back wall _,_ his body slamming into hers, wrapping her up with everything that he had. That invisible string that pulled her closer to him had returned, only now it was more like an industrial wire, reeling them together with such a force that neither had ever imagined possible.

His kisses were rough, hasty, but at the same time delicate and strategic. Some landing upon her lips, others her neck, and some even finding her lekku. Each little brush of his lips sent chills up her spine and butterflies to her stomach.

Her hands traced everywhere, his back, his neck, his hair. She couldn’t stop playing with his hair. It had never been more intriguing. The little tie he used to hold it back fell off and she felt the long strands of dark hair tickle her cheeks as it came down across his face.

He noticed quickly that she made a soft sound with her mouth whenever he kissed her neck. He felt her touch all over and couldn’t help but feel her too. Kanan ran his hands up her back and against her lekku which shivered from the contact with his fingertips. She made the sound again and he jolted. He wanted her to keep making that sound, but his lips weren’t satisfying the feeling enough— _that is_  until he allowed the rest of his mouth to assist. His lips halted upon her neck, his teeth teasing the skin as he placed both of his hands on her hips.

She chuckled under her breath and crawled up his body until he held her hips in his arms, her legs wrapped around his back. She couldn’t get enough of him, his smell, the sounds he made deep in his throat, or the way he touched. His hands traced dangerously close to the buttons on her uniform. Strangely, she didn’t seem to mind, in fact, she welcomed it.

For that moment, there was no war, no responsibilities, and no ship. It was just him and her drifting together through space, completely drowning in passion, unable to break apart from one another.

_*BEEP! BEEP!*_

Hera was so enamored by him that she didn’t notice the return of the Ghost’s lights, or the continuous beeping of Kanan’s comm links. She didn’t even realize that the ship was powering back on or that the  _Ghost’s_ machines were all dialing up with the return of the power.  

_*BEEP! BEEP!*_

The comm link rang again and answered itself by the third alert sound. It was a safety protocol made just in case one of the crew had been captured. The others could listen in to the background chatter coming from the caller in order to try and figure out their location that way.

 _“Spectre One, come in—”_  It was Zeb. His voice laced in static due to their reception being stretched to its max.  _“This is Spectre Four. Spectre Two? Does anyone read me, over? Hello?”_

Kanan lifted the tiny device to his face, looking at it with a bubbling aggravation.

Hera simply glared at the machine, wanting nothing more than for it to go silent. She would have normally jumped at the call in order to answer Zeb, but right now she didn’t even want to consider breaking this moment.

Kanan could feel her aggravation and the feeling was mutual. He took the communication beacon and shut it off before placing it on the dashboard and returning his attention to only her.

She smiled as they kissed again, a long, passionate kiss that they each felt as though it could go on forever—that is until all too suddenly, she realized what was happening, and it was like receiving a slap to the face or a splash of cold water.

 _“Kan—”_  Her voice was muffled by his mouth.

She allowed it for just one second more before she took in a breath of realization as though a cold wave of reality had swept over her mind. She tore away from his face and out of his arms as suddenly her free will came back to her.

_It was a tad disappointing._

“Stop!” she shouted once.

Kanan dropped her and took in a few heavy breaths to catch his own. He was weak in the knees and had to fall backwards into his seat just to recompose himself. He’d never felt so close to doing something stupid in his life. Normally he had more self-control _—so what was that?_ He thought, before remembering that he had felt the strange presence of control coming from within the ship. He wasn’t strong enough to stop it. They never stood a chance.

“I—” Kanan was speechless, ashamed, he couldn’t bear to look at her. She must have been so disappointed in him. He still couldn’t explain himself to her, so he said the only thing he could think to say… “I don’t know what happened.”

“No,” She knew it wasn’t his fault, in fact it was her who had gone to him first,  _but for the life of her,_ she didn’t know why _._ Hera swallowed and blushed but shook her head and took in more breaths. “I don’t know what came over me, just now. It—it isn’t your fault, Kanan.”

He looked up to her and studied her face. He could tell that she felt the same as he did, but she didn’t know— _at least he assumed she didn’t know_  that there was an outside presence influencing her actions.

“It’s not your fault either, you know that, right?”

Their eyes met, causing a flare-up of emotion within each of their hearts. It could only be quelled by breaking eye contact, to which they each did with red faces of embarrassment.

_*BEEP! BEEP!*_

The beeping returned and Hera gasped as she lunged for her beacon that was trying its hardest to relay a long-distance message from Zeb and Chopper on the surface of Corphelion.

“Zeb!” she hollered, answering the device afterwards with her tone masked to sound normal and completely composed. “Ghost to Spectre Four, go ahead!”

“Finally!” He scoffed. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since we got to town!”

Hera wiped the sweat off her brow and readjusted her goggles that had fogger over slightly due to the atmosphere in the room. Judging by his tone, she could tell that they were in no real danger, so for that she was able to relax free of conscious for ignoring their first call.

“What’s the problem?” She asked.

“Well,” he replied. “The locals are talking about some sort of cosmic belt sweeping past the atmosphere. They call it the Pink Nebula—”

“Interesting…” Her voice sounded anything but. “And what’s so special about it?”

“ _Well—_ It doesn’t sound too dangerous for the ship or anything in the long run,” Zeb spoke. “But they say that it could temporarily shut down all the technology, and that it can cause strange reactions in the crew.”

They each exchanged a look before blushing and diverting their attention to literally anywhere else on the ship.

Kanan grabbed for his comm and switched it back on.

“What kind of strange reactions?” He asked.

“I don’t know!” Zeb sounded annoyed. “Just avoid it!” He paused for a moment and let out a sigh. “It should disappear in about an hour—the locals say it only happens once every three years or so. They have a whole parade down here and everything in honor of the way it makes the skies turn pink.”

“Glad you two are enjoying yourselves…” Kanan sounded critical.

“Thanks for the heads up, Zeb.” Hera rolled her eyes at Kanan and added, “We’ll wait out the storm on a nearby moon and rendezvous after it passes. We still have to check in on our artist over on the nearby spaceport.”

“About that…” he chuckled slightly.

“What is it?” Kanan glared a little into the device.

“Locals are also talking about our Mandalorian friend down here,” he said. “And you’ll never guess whose artwork is scribbled all over the town.”

“Is she there?” Hera spoke abruptly.

“Looks like it” Zeb’s voice replied. “Kanan was right, the rumors on the port must have been a ruse. So far nothing’s exploding, so I think she’s just waiting for us to pass over this sector. Chop and I will keep an eye out for her, you two just lay low and I’ll call back after the Pink Nebula finishes passing over Corphelion.”

Hera didn’t like the sound of waiting helplessly, but sighed and replied back with a reluctant sounding, “Okay…”

Zeb chuckled, Chopper chirping rapidly about something in the background.

“Right then!” he said oddly, “Spectres Three and Four, out.”

“What was that all about?” Kanan asked.

Hera shook her head and took her place back at her seat… “No clue.”

There was an awkward pause as Hera landed the  _Ghost_  on one of the much smaller moons orbiting around Corphellion. It was still dyed from the effects of the strange radiation known as the Pink Nebula, but it was getting lighter, so the effects from the anomaly must have been fading.

Finally stopped, Kanan tapped at his knees nervously until he finally worked up the courage to speak again.

“I sensed a strange presence within the Nebula,” he said. “A force that was much stronger and much more insistent than the Force that I know… It was wild, full of desire and emotion. It’s hard to explain, but I think the Nebula is the reason you—I mean the reason I—well we—”

“You don’t have to say it!” She swallowed, clenching her eyes shut, but allowing her grip on the controls to open and reveal a palm for him to stop talking.

“Thank you,” he blushed, shrinking further into the co-pilot’s seat in an attempt to escape. He compelled himself looked back at her and meekly asked, “You never want to talk about this again, do you?”

“I didn’t say that…” She shook her head, but avoided looking at him in order to tinker with switches on the dashboard that Kanan knew were pointless and just a means to avoid looking him in the eyes.

He leaned back and rubbed his face.

“So…yes?”

She stopped fiddling and snuck a peak in his direction.

“You think the radiation from the Pink Nebula had something to do with it?” She sighed once. “And not  _anything_ else?”

She was emphasizing her words in a way that even Kanan could understand. They knew that there was a slight, unspoken attraction between them.  _Slight_  was a generous term for it though. Kanan sometimes liked to think back to their small collection of kisses and flirts whenever he needed a smile. As for Hera, she had fond memories of his tender touch and the way everything felt secure when he was around. She could deny it all she wanted, but there may have been something stronger beneath the way she felt for Kanan. After today, neither of them could really deny that any further.  

Kanan coughed and blushed.

“That may have had a  _little something_  to do with it?” he supposed. Kanan snorted and leaned back in his chair as he stated, “That Phindarian drink suddenly makes a lot more sense to me now…I suppose I should have seen this coming.”

She smirked at him, but averted her attention to the window. As she looked out to the pink swirling vortex, blending into the hundreds of nearby stars, she let the peaceful quiet seep in and she blurted… “No matter how much time you spend in space, it’ll always find new ways to surprise you…”

“Yeah…” he agreed, rubbing his neck in order to motion his head to the other wall. He couldn’t bear to look at her, half from guilt, but the other half was holding back that almost impossible urge to kiss her again.  _He wasn’t sure if the Nebula was still to blame or not?_

She held out her hand to him and he stopped thinking. He looked at it dumbly before taking it  and holding her hand tightly within his own. It provided a kind of security that made it safe to look her in the eyes again—those stunning green eyes.

He cleared his throat and fumbled. “I—I like this too. Th-this is good.”

Hera only smiled and leaned over towards him.

“Well, I don’t think the Nebula’s completely worn off,” she grinned.

Kanan blinked, before a flirtatious smile returned to his face, and he leaned across his seat to deliver one small, soft kiss to her lips. Though it wasn’t much… it was a much stronger connection than before. Perhaps it was the willingness, or the lack of lustful influence from the Nebula…but it was a true, real kiss, and that could be felt without the Nebula’s influence…and it felt nice.

So much so, that he kissed her again after that.

* * *

 

“You think maybe now they’ll stop dragging their feet?”

Chopper buzzed.

“I mean, it’s obvious that those two like each other. It’s not just me, is it?” He asked.

 _Oh please,_ Chopper thought. He had been watching those two flirt at each other since day one.

It had happened shortly after arriving… Chopper and Zeb were greeted by the locals with flowers, balloons, and other knick-knacks as well as songs and stories about this holiday that they had stumbled into by accident. The entire town was filled with hearts, the colors of red, purple, and pink staining everything on the streets and all of the merchandise available for blocks. They could hardly find a salesman to get them the groceries on Hera’s list because every single merchant was too busy selling merchandise to honor the Pink Nebula.

The celebration was all thanks to that rare unknown occurrence in the outer atmosphere of Corphellion that rivaled the impressive meteor showers that brought the planet so much tourism. The Pink Nebula was their biggest event of the planet’s history, and it was their largest celebration.

As it would seem, the Pink Nebula was a baffling occurrence of nature, where a pink storm of radiation, laced with some sort of pheromone and technology disrupting prowess, appeared around the planets moon and traveled all the way across the planet’s exosphere. Nobody knows where it came from or when it started… they know only rumors of its effects from travelers caught in the crossfire.

The Pink Nebula was said to cause a rush of honest to goodness passion to cultivate in any organic beings caught in it. The rays emitted a pheromone that made the hearts of the crew attracted to another that was on board. It was said, that when two souls already in love are caught in the rays, the force of their lust would be almost uncontrollable.

Zeb looked up at the multiple moons of Corphellion, aligned in such a way that even the ruby skies had a small heart orbiting in the distance.

Could they have warned Kanan and Hera about the Nebula sooner _, sure?_   

He couldn’t just stand by and let those two spend the rest of their lives denying the feelings they harbored for one another—not like he and Orelia had done. It may have been too late for him, but he could try and take a page from Kanan’s book and do right by someone else.

They were good, selfless people…they deserved this happiness and a moment— _even just a second_ to forget this awful war and all its carnage.

It was obvious to anything with sentience that Hera and Kanan liked each other more than just as crewmates. A kiss, a hug, even just a heart to heart conversation—Zeb didn’t want to think about the details, but he hoped that they would at least own up to something of that degree.

 _Maybe the Nebula would help with that?_ Zeb thought.  _A few hours off wouldn’t kill anybody, right?_

“We take this to our graves!” Zeb warned. “They’ll kill us if they figure out we got involved.”

Chopper grumbled. This was all the Lasat’s idea—but he knew that somehow he’d get blamed for it if they ever found out. He agreed that they could never find out. Chopper will need to erase his memory circuits after this if he ever hoped to forget this awful, moronic plot.  _If only he were so lucky…_

“You have a way to track the girl if we find her, right?” He asked.

Chopper booped affirmatively, in a way that even Zeb could understand.

“Good. Then no harm, no foul,” he said. “We’ll figure out where she’s hiding, tail her, and then wait for Kanan and Hera to come back down.”

Chopper didn’t sound as convinced. He’d argue, but apparently if you were on this planet during Nebula Day, then you weren’t even allowed to bicker—not in the slightest. There was no negativity on this whole lovey-dovey planet and it made Chopper sick!

The only positive thing that came of this whole stupid holiday would be that the Artist wouldn’t dare make an attack today. The con to this though, was that she wouldn’t make an attack and there was no way to find her aside from the harmless signatures she scribbled all over the walls.  _An orange firebird._

It was almost as noticeable as a lumbering Lasat walking down the street. There was no way they could find her if Zeb was leading the expedition. Chopper kept the comment to himself. Hopefully Hera would come back and pick them up soon.

* * *

 

The  _Ghost_ landed a short while after the Nebula had vanished and the festival on Corphellion began to close down. At the rendezvous location, Chopper and Zeb hopped back on board, putting away all of the groceries before taking the spare parts for the  _Phantom_ to Hera. When they found her, both she and Kanan were sitting in the _Ghost’s_ control room, and not a single thing was out of place.

“Thank you for getting these parts, Zeb,” Hera said simply. “Were you able to find the girl?”

“Y-yeah?” He stuttered, clearing his throat afterwards. “Chopper planted a tag on her, but he wouldn’t let me follow her.”

_BEEP! BOOP! PBT!_

“Yeah, he would kind of blow your cover,” Hera translated. “Good call, boys.”

“Knowing her though,” Kanan stood. “She’ll figure out we’re still tailing her and run off again if we don’t hurry.”

Hera took the parts from Zeb and started to leave the room as she said… “Well I’m going to get these new parts installed. In the meantime, you three can meet up with the girl and try to bring her back— preferably  _without_  getting blown up again.”

She smirked at them devilishly, but turned back towards the  _Phantom_ without another word.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Kanan replied, rising and motioning Zeb back outside. “Let’s go, lead the way big guy. Chop, let’s get that locator online. I have a good feeling about today.”

The Lasat tried to focus on anything he could to see if they had a certain awkwardness about them, but they acted the same way they normally would have. Chopper buzzed in confusion as Zeb thought to himself all the way down to the platform.

 _Maybe they warned them too early, and the Nebula missed them?_ He debated.  _They were too ordinary. Nothing seems to be different. Pity…_

Zeb and Chopper would never know, but Kanan and Hera did share in a moment of the Pink Nebula’s influence. It had been months since they had accidentally kissed or flirted in some way or another… The mission on Tatooine, chasing the Mandalorian girl all over the Mid Rim…it was a lot of work and little time for distraction. Something they had become accustomed to in this time of war.

Hera finished tightening the bolts on the new part for the Phantom, until she rubbed at her wrist and looked to the little hair tie that was hiding beneath her glove.

 _Maybe distractions…_ She thought with a smile… _Aren’t all necessarily a bad thing?_

And with that in mind she shoved the thought back into her usual place, and continued working on the ship’s repairs.

Sure enough, Kanan was thinking the exact same thing as he adjusted his spare hair tie.

_A little healthy distraction from time to time could work wonders on the stress built up in a busy couple of months._

He smiled to himself a little after that.

“So where did you and Chop see our graffiti artist strike?” He asked bluntly.

Zeb pointed to the industrial wall that fenced in a whole lot of parked Tie Fighters. Resting on the outside, by a small hole in the wall was none other than the familiar artistic symbol of the Mandalorian… and Kanan knew that this would be where she would strike next.

“Oh…” Kanan’s shoulders fell.

“Yep… and Chopper’s tracker says she’s in there, probably getting ready.”

Kanan let his head fall back. “Why can’t it ever be somewhere that  _doesn’t_ house an army trying to kill us?”

“Stakeout?” Zeb assumed.

Kanan nodded reluctantly… “Stakeout,” he sighed. “You take first watch.”

_What Kanan wouldn’t give for five more minutes of distraction right about now._


End file.
